Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I think this is so normal. Heck, if I'm out and about without any friends somewhere, I have a very hard time entering conversations! And I'm someone who appears to be at ease socially. I don't think he's doing anything wrong?
Does he friends and is otherwise OK at school? Are you just wondering what he should do when you go to the park?
I think OP can see that her son really wants to join the group and that is why he is lingering at the fringe, hoping to find a way in. I don’t think you are going to parties and watching groups of people, listening to their conversations and inching closer and closer in hopes of joining!
I have seen this happen with my son’s group of 4 or 5 friends last month. Another boy was following them and not saying a word. The group sat on the grass to talk and the other boy stood a few feet away, watching. It was a weird dynamic - the group of boys, including my son, just completely ignored this kid and didn’t even look at him. I asked my son to include him, and he shrugged and said, “he’s always following us”. It wasn’t nice at all. This happened at school, but not during school hours, so I was the only adult there. I ended up trying to have my own conversation with the kid and eventually he left to join his parents. I should have done something else, but I couldn’t think of anything in the moment. As a minority kid in the Deep South, I was usually on the outside looking in, so I have a lot of empathy for kids who just want to join a group. I understand OP’s concerns.
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